SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College head women’s basketball coach Sharon Thompson has been recognized for the Lady Lions’ successful season by being named the 2019-20 MACJC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, as voted on by the conference’s head women’s basketball coaches. The announcement was made Wednesday by MACJC Commissioner Steven Martin, along with the conference’s other individual postseason basketball honors, as EMCC continues to serve as the proud host of this year’s MACJC Basketball Tournament being played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.
Additionally for the Lady Lions, EMCC had freshman forward Ja’Mia Hollings and sophomore guard Tye Metcalf selected to this year’s All-MACJC North Division women’s basketball first team. Sophomore transfer guard Taylor Lattimore earned second-team honors for EMCC.
On the men’s side for East Mississippi, freshman forward Jakorie Smith was chosen to the All-MACJC North Division first team, while sophomore guard Donte Powers made the second team.
Thompson, who has also recently taken on additional administrative responsibilities as EMCC’s Director of Athletics, has guided the 22-2 EMCC Lady Lions to the MACJC North Division regular-season championship with a current 17-game winning streak heading into Wednesday’s semifinal-round MACJC Tournament contest against Southwest Mississippi. The Geiger, Ala., native and former Mississippi State All-SEC standout also recently received the Agent of Change Award in Sports/Athletics during a luncheon of the African-American Leadership Caucus held earlier this month at the Lion Hills Center in Columbus.
This year marks the second MACJC Coach of the Year honor for Thompson, who previously guided the 25-7 EMCC Lady Lions to a regular-season MACJC North Division title and NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship during the 2008-09 season en route to making their first NJCAA Tournament appearance since 1978. She capped her successful 2008-09 campaign by participating as a court coach during the 2009 USA Basketball Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.
